


love in the larval stage

by halocinated



Category: JBJ (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Unrequited Crush, hinted Kim Donghan/Kwon Hyunbin, mentioned Kwon Hyunbin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 15:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12843789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halocinated/pseuds/halocinated
Summary: Kang Daniel is very obvious in his affection towards certain boy. Park Jihoon is not blind, he's just focusing his sight on someone else--who is, very obviously, not Kang Daniel.(Or, a heartbreak or two happens. Maybe there will be hope in the future, but right now, this is enough.)





	love in the larval stage

Kang Daniel likes Park Jihoon, it is known.

Because Daniel is an obvious puppy who wags his tail every time Jihoon’s small stature comes to view. Whose smile become thousand times brighter whenever Park Jihoon speaks, or moves, or doing anything, really. His friends always tease him that it is a wonder why, after Daniel’s very obvious attempts at seducing or flirting with the freshman, none of it seems to affect the boy. Daniel asked Jihoon to went on dates, did everything the boy said he likes, acted so gentlemanly and so, so charming. But Jihoon’s reaction is so… underwhelming? No reddening cheeks, no shy smile, no flustered acts after Daniel’s (self-proclaimed) smooth flirtings. Just Park Jihoon acting like he usually is around Daniel—familiar and close, but so out of reach at the same time. Usually people just fell at the wave of Kang Daniel’s hand, trying to get his affection and attention. No one is immune to his exceptional charm.

Well, now we know, except Park Jihoon.

.  
.

Park Jihoon is in love with someone else, it is not known.

Daniel is only privy to this information because Jihoon himself told him at one point in his _courting_. It was their… second date, if Daniel recalled correctly? It was such a perfect scene too: him and Jihoon at their favorite fast food joint, inhaling food at record’s speed. There was a sauce stain on Daniel’s cheek that Jihoon wiped with his own fingers. It was such a romantic scene that even got Daniel’s heart to start beating like crazy, until the boy said, “Ah, hyung. You’re even a messier eater than Donghan hyung.”

That statement froze Daniel’s smile and stopped his heartbeat. He took the burger away from his mouth, gulped nervously, before asking. “Who is this Donghan person, Jihoonie?”

Jihoon’s response blew his hope away. Usually, Park Jihoon is sweet, yes, but only moderately. He smiles prettily, does everything with a certain grace that so refined that made Daniel fell in the first place. But now… the expression on Jihoon’s face is… something Daniel hadn’t seen before. Not in class, not anywhere. There was something pure in the way his eyes soften, something so fond in the curl of his lips. If Daniel had to put a name to the kind of face Jihoon was making then, he would name it _adoration_ —dripping drop by drop, in the way Jihoon was talking about this _Donghan_ person.

“Donghan hyung is someone I’m really close with, Daniel hyung.” Jihoon said that so softly, like he was confessing something. “He’s like a kid, most of the time, but he also gets me the most. He understands me completely and is so, so loving. We just click, you know?” The smile blooming on Jihoon’s face is so damn tender Daniel’s heart ached. “I like him so much.”

And that, people, is how Kang Daniel found his heart slowly shattering to pieces.

.  
.

But did that going to make him stop yearning for Park Jihoon?

Sadly, no.

It is not because he felt a sense of rivalry with Jihoon’s object of adoration, no. Kim Donghan is, when you meet him in person, an overall nice guy. A kind of mischievous and lovable, Daniel grudgingly thought. No wonder Jihoon likes him. Especially when he finally got to see Donghan and Jihoon together which is— _okay_. It breaks his heart more than Daniel is willing to admit. Because everything about them: the way Donghan casually drapes his big, big body over Jihoon and clings to him like a koala, the way Donghan peppers Jihoon’s blushing cheeks with kisses, the way Jihoon looking at Donghan so tenderly—it made his heart ached.

It hurts, yes, but Daniel also couldn’t help but wishing that it was him in Donghan’s position. Being the recipient of Jihoon’s soft, soft smile; light punches to the arms whenever the boy is flustered, being stared at so… adoringly.

They talked, the three of them. In this meeting arranged by Jihoon because he wanted his favorite hyungs (Daniel’s heart twitched at this) to _finally_ see each other in person. Mainly about dance, because that is their common ground, and other meaningless things like the classes they had and other friends they have. Daniel found out that Donghan actually knows Hyunbin, the model in his close-knit of peer group, because they got to work on a project together. Daniel then spent more minutes trash talking the tall bean with Donghan, with Jihoon watching them exasperatedly, until Donghan dropped the bomb.

“So, Daniel hyung, is Hyunbin single or something?”

Daniel’s eyes immediately zeroed on Jihoon’s expression which is—not good, yeah. There’s pain in his eyes that Daniel wants to wipe away because now Daniel understand the situation Jihoon is in. After all, they are in the same position.

 

Loving someone who is in love with someone else.

 

(If you’re curious, yes, Daniel answered Donghan’s question with a yeah and a cheesy wink. Call him a hypocrite, but Daniel is not beyond dirty tricks to get what he thought he wanted or need. After all, there is nothing to sever in Donghan and Jihoon’s relationship, right? _Because there is no relationship to break in the first place._ )

.  
.

“Jihoonie, wait up!”

The bell that signaled the end of school hours already rang. Kang Daniel jogged slowly towards Park Jihoon, who is currently standing beside their school’s gate. The boy’s eyes are red and his cheeks are too, like he just finished crying, and Daniel doesn’t have a heart to make a guess about the reason why. (Because it is obvious, if Hyunbin’s lovesick smile at lunch is tell-tale sign enough for the long winded answer needled by their resident mother Hwang Minhyun—that he and Donghan are taking the next step in their relationship, and because of that, Jihoon’s heart is breaking.)

“Let me walk you home.” 

Daniel said when his steps are, finally, at the same pace as Jihoon’s. Jihoon didn’t say anything. Just letting Daniel matched their steps and letting his hands be held by the older boy’s bigger one. They walked together in silence, hand in hand. Sometimes Daniel squeezed Jihoon’s hand in an attempt at comforting and Jihoon would smile a smile so small it’s almost invisible. Maybe Jihoon knew that Daniel knows, and is letting him in past his barriers. Maybe Jihoon only need comfort and Daniel is the only one available.

Either way, it’s okay.

Kang Daniel would still be here, tending Park Jihoon’s broken heart and waiting for it to heal, until he is ready to love again. (And then, hopefully, Daniel will have the love story he always wanted: him and his favorite boy, together at last.)

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY!! BIRTHDAY!! VIE!!!! thank you for being my friend for the past nine years!! and being a good enabler!! wow time 's sure zooming past us so fast. this is your gift, as we discussed in the dms before, but i'm not sure if i did your prompt justice :") i hope you still like it nonetheless, as i enjoyed writing this very much. teehee. oh, english is not my first language and this is the first english fic i posted on this site i am so nervous AAAAAA. this is also unbetaed, although i did my very best in doing self-proofread. so, pardon me for any mistakes. do tell me if there's something that need correcting though!!!
> 
> btw if you want to scream at me about this fic or nielwink or anything, feel free to poke me at @neonikkababy in twitter!! i like having more friends to fangirl with lol.


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